So it Seems This Week is Going to be Crazy Busy

Just a heads up before I go missing for another week and then have to come back and apologize that this week is potentially going to get really, really busy for me. See I am in a transition period at my job where I am slowly being trained to learn a new job (and as you may or may not know I do the vast majority of my writing at work… so if work is busy the writing doesn’t get done unfortunately) but now we can no longer afford the luxury of taking our time with the training. Now the envelope is being pushed and I am essentially being rushed into the learning the new job as the need for me to be there may become a reality here in the near future. I obviously can’t go into detail for obvious reasons.

So if I’m quiet that’s why. I do everything I can to write but sometimes life just doesn’t have that in the cards for me right now. But I am trying, I promise you that. Stay well and I hope you have the most amazing Tuesday ever.

And to that special person in my life… I love you!

This Day in New York Yankees History 3/28: YES Network Pulls the Plug

On this day in 2003, just three days prior to Opening Day, the YES Network claims Cablevision has pulled out of a deal signed 17 days ago that would have provided televised Yankee games to three million cable subscribers in the New York City area. According to the YES Network Cablevision failed to sign a finalized version of the hand-written document that both parties exchanged on March 12.


Also on this day in 1988 the Yankees decided to waive pitcher Phil Niekro just four days shy of his 47th birthday.


Finally on this day in 1986 the Boston Red Sox traded designated hitter Mike Easler to the New York Yankees for designated hitter Don Baylor in a rare trade between the two rivals.

2017 AL East Predictions

Well Yankee family, it's that time of year again! Last year I did a prediction series where I went through each division, team by team, predicting what the end-of-the-year outcome would look like. I am hoping to have a little bit more success this season, as I only predicted one division, in it's entirety(NL East), correctly. If you didn't have a chance to read them, I had Boston, Kansas City, Houston, Washington, Chicago and San Francisco as the respective division winners, with Pittsburgh and New York representing the NL Wild Card teams and New York and Detroit representing the Wild Card squads for the AL. I should also note that I predicted Cleveland to take fourth place in the AL Central... So like I said, hoping for some better results this season.

We begin, as we did in 2016, with the best division in all of the game, including three teams that advanced to the 2016 postseason; the American League East. After witnessing one of the greatest final seasons from any single player in the history of our game, David Ortiz lead his Boston Red Sox to another division title. Surprisingly, they were treated to an early exit thanks to a three-game Division Series sweep at the hands of the eventual AL champs, the Cleaveland Indians. Honestly, you could easily see any one of these five teams representing the East, as this is one of the strongest and tightest divisions in the show. Will the East produce three playoff-bound teams yet again in 2017? Let's take a look.

5. Tampa Bay Rays

Starting pitching has always been a perennial strength of the Tampa Bay Rays. Despite having one of the top 10 SPs in all of baseball in Chris Archer, their once strength has transformed into one of the shake year rotations in the American League. Their next best starter outside of Archer, Drew Smyly, was shipped off to Seattle for a package of prospects. Alex Cobb is returning this season after missing all of 2016 due to injury. Jake Odorizzi, Matt Andriese and Blake Snell round out the end of Tampa's thin rotation. And Smyly was not the only big departure of the off-season. All-Star second baseman and Rays leadoff man Logan Forsythe was shipped to the Dodgers, forcing Tim Beckham and Corey Dickerson into a lefty/righty platoon  atop the batting order. James Loney, who was HUGE for the Fish when Logan Morrison went down, is in Texas now and Steve Pearce is playing north of the border. With so many subtractions and very few impactful additions, I don't see Tampa finishing anywhere other then at the bottom of the division.

4. Baltimore Orioles

The unofficial theme for this ball club in 2017 should be "feast or famine". After losing Matt Wieters to free agency, the O's acquired Wellington Castillo from the Diamondbacks. Which is like George Foreman having another child; it's just going to be another George. Castillo has the same " homerun or bust" hitting mentality as 2/3 of the rest of the Birds batting order(Trumbo, Davis, Alvarez, Hardy, Schoop). Even their bullpen, outside of Zach Britton, is unhittable one day and gives up 1.7 million runs the next. And as is perennially the case, Baltimore's starting pitching staff is a major concern. It will either be the unproven Kevin Gausman or the inconsistent and often injured Chris Tillman competing for the number one spot. After those two you have Dylan Bundy(the lone bright spot in the Orioles rotation), the not-so-good-anymore Ubaldo Jimenez and the simply awful Wade Miley to round it out. They will definitely need to hit the ball out of the ballpark in order to stay competitive in 2017. I just can't see a potent offense carrying a suspect starting pitching staff over the course of a 162 game season.

3. Toronto Blue Jays

A season after making their second consecutive trip to the postseason, Toronto lost maybe the most important player on their team to the Cleaveland Indians in free agency, Edwin and Encarnacion.  Left with the task to replace the gawdy numbers by the All-Star first baseman, the Jays signed Kendrys Morales and Steve Pearce to fill the void. Pearce should help shore up the revolving door that is left field for Tarano and  Morales may end up as one of the more underrated signings of the winter. As for their pitching, staff ace Marcus Stroman got his '17 off to a great start by taking home MVP honors of the World Baseball Classic. J.A. Happ, Marco Estrada and Aaron Sanchez are coming off career-best seasons and are hoping to build off of them in 2017. To round it out, Toronto is hoping for much more than they received last season from their trade-deadline acquisition, Francisco Liriano. The only bugaboo for the Jays this season, and has been for the last few seasons, is the uncertainty of their bullpen. Despite representing the Dominican republic in the WBC, closer Roberto Osuna fell apart at the end of last season and has much to prove to get back into the conversation of elite closer. Though picked third, I fully anticipate Turano being in it until the very end.

2. New York Yankees

Yankee fans are finally going to get an idea of what a Brian Cashman team looks like. The seasoned GM has managed to keep his team relevant while almost completely overhauling the roster. Since the trade deadline from last year, Cashman has managed to obtain the second best farm system in all of baseball, with his gutsy moves like: Chapman for the number three overall prospect Gleyber Torres, Adam Warren and Billy McKinney, Miller for Clint Frazier(#27ovr), Justice Sheffield and two others,  Beltran for Dillon Tate,and even moving back stop Brian McCann this off-season for a couple of fireballers from Houston. And none of those names include the Yankees three most promising young stars Gary Sanchez, Aaron Judge and Greg Bird. The latter Bird has had an incredible spring and has made the signing of 2016 NL homerun champ Chris Carter almost obsolete. Cashman also signed Matt Holliday this off-season for his electric right-handed bat and his invaluable clubhouse leadership. As for the pitching staff, Cashman inked Chapman to a record deal(5yr/$85M) to bring back the Cuban Missile to close for the boys in pinstripes. Tanaka had the best year of his Yankee career last season and can opt out of his contract at seasons end. Sabathia completely reinvented himself a season ago, sporting the lowest ERA he has had in pinstripes. And Sabathia said that he believes this is the year that Michael Pineda puts it all together and competes for a Cy Young award. Luis Severino has had a tremendous spring and has asserted himself as the number four starter for New York. With maybe the best bullpen in baseball and such a young, counted nucleus of players, the Yankees look to be in it for the long haul and should, at worst, be one of the two Wild Card teams in the American League.

1. Boston Red Sox

For The second consecutive season, I am going against my Yankee-loving gut and picking Boston to take the division in 2017. Boston made far an away the biggest splash of the off-season by acquiring the dominant lefty Chris Sale from the White Sox for a truckload of prospects, headed by the number one prospect in baseball, Johan Moncado. Sale is undoubtedly the most dominant left-handed starter in the American League, and is added to a staff that already includes the 2016 Cy Young Award winner Rick Porcello, former Cy Young Award winner David Price, and first-time All-Star in 2016 as well as one of the few remaining knuckleballer in baseball, Steven Wright. Additionally, with the unbelievable break out performances last year by the likes of Mookie Betts, Xander Bogarts, Jackie Bradley Jr. and number two overall prospect Andrew Benintendi, the Red Sox are poised to have as potent an offense as they did last year. Even with the loss of the retired David Ortiz, GM Dave Dombrowski brought in Mitch Moreland to shore up defensively the position at first base, as well as provide some much-needed left-handed power to their already deep lineup. The GM also upgraded the Open by trading third baseman Travis Shaw to Milwaukee for fireballer Tyler Thornburg. Thornburg, in conjunction with a full, healthy season for the hard throwing Carson Smith, should be more than enough to fill the void left by the departure of former closer Koji Uehara. They had a phenomenal 2016, and barring any major injuries, they look poised to go for it again in 2017.

 Let the debating begin.

The Final Days of Spring…

Although Spring does not officially end until Tuesday, June 20th, it is coming to an end for Major League Baseball.

Today is the final day off for the Yankees during the Spring Training schedule which concludes Friday at Sun Trust Park in Atlanta, GA, the new home for the Atlanta Braves.  After returning to Tampa after the Georgia trip, the Yankees will have an off day on Saturday before they embark on the bus trip down I-275 to St Peterburg to kick off the 2017 season next Sunday against the Tampa Bay Rays.

This means there are only four exhibition games left to decide the future of the starting rotation or at least the one leads off the season.  Manager Joe Girardi has stated the team could skip the fifth spot in the rotation early in the regular schedule due to the number of planned days off. While the Yankees have two days off during the first week of the season, they’ll also need to push Masahiro Tanaka’s second start by a game to allow him to pitch the home opener at Yankee Stadium against the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday, April 10th.  This most likely means that both CC Sabathia and Michael Pineda will make their second starts of the season on short rest.  

Prior to yesterday’s game against the Rays, the Yankees announced that they have released Jon Niese.  Niese was never under consideration for the starting rotation, but his release means that he is out for bullpen consideration.  This probably enhances the chances for reliever Ben Heller to make the Opening Day roster.  Heller has done a fine job this Spring and certainly deserving of the opportunity.  Ernesto Frieri hasn't shown me enough to warrant the creation of a spot on the 40-man roster.

It’s possible that Niese stays with the organization.  He’ll have a couple of days to see if he can find another major league opportunity or he could stay with the Yankees for extended spring training as he continues his rehabilitation from last year’s season-ending knee surgery.

This should be a very active week on the transactions wire.  There have already been a few opt-out’s like outfielder Drew Stubbs, formerly with the Minnesota Twins, and pitcher Ross Detweiler, formerly with the Oakland A’s.   Former Yankees outfielder Austin Jackson, who could have opted out, elected not to, a potential sign that he has made the Cleveland Indians roster in a bench role.  There will be much more activity in the coming days as teams begin their final cuts.  I am sure that there will be a surprise or two along the way.  Probably nothing that will bring help to the Yankees but there’s always the chance the team swings a minor trade to open up some room on the 40-man roster.  

I do not expect the Yankees to make a trade for a replacement shortstop to fill-in while Didi Gregorius is out.  I think they’ll go with the in-house options for now.  The question remains who but Tyler Wade or Pete Kozma seem like the most obvious choices (assuming the Yankees don’t slide Starlin Castro over from second).  Ronald Torreyes slots in only as a platoon at best.  I don’t see him as the full-time starter in any scenario.  But then again, I am not the manager of the team and stranger things have happened.

It has been reported that the Tampa Bay Rays have interest in Rob Refsnyder.  Although none of us really want to see Refsnyder go, it would be tough to watch him traded within the AL East  We’d then be reminded of the trade 19 times a year.  It could certainly be a trade that we’ll eventually regret.  

Aaron Hicks is turning up the heat on Aaron Judge in the fight for right field.  I still want and expect Judge to win the battle, but Hicks was the man of the day in yesterday’s 7-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in Grapefruit League action.  He hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning and drove in a total of 3 RBI’s for the game.  Bryan Mitchell was the starter and winner, but it was a less than impressive outing for the young right-hander.  He went three innings, struggling in the third.  He allowed six hits and three runs, while walking two.  His struggles, combined with those of Adam Warren on Saturday, could very well open the door for Jordan Montgomery to snag a spot in the rotation.

With the win, the Yankees improved their Spring record to 22-7-1.

On Tuesday, Masahiro Tanaka will make his final Spring appearance at Steinbrenner Field against the Detroit Tigers as he tunes up for Opening Day.  Only Tiger batters stand between Tanaka and his impressive Spring 0.00 ERA.  Hit now or forever hold your peace.

Jordan Montgomery will start Wednesday, with Luis Severino slated for Thursday in their respective final auditions for the rotation.  The odds favor Severino if for no other reason than he is already on the 40-man roster.  But Montgomery is everyone’s sentimental favorite.  Cashman, make room!  

Have a great Monday!

Nick Ahmed? Really?

I seriously don't get it. The Yankees reportedly would consider trading for 27 year-old shortstop from the Diamondbacks, who's put up a batting line of .221/.268/.329 in 842 MLB plate appearances, rather than hand the job over to Tyler Wade, Starlin Castro (while putting Rob Refsnyder or somebody else at 2B), or any of their other in-house candidates.

You're telling me Wade couldn't hit .221/.268/.329? Refsnyder has already shown that he could hit better than that in MLB. In fact, Daniel has already talked about a number of options to replace Didi until he's healthy, which you can read here and here.

Hey, Cashman! Stop wasting time on looking for trades like this and start thinking about the starting rotation, not just for this season but for the future. Because that is the one place that concerns me, and should concern all Yankees fans.

Waiting for an Official World Series…

One week from today, the Yankees begin the 2017 season at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL.  Masahiro Tanaka will take the mound for the visiting Yankees, while Chris Archer will represent the represent the Tampa Bay Rays for his team's home opener.  

Credit:  Jeff Griffith, USA TODAY Sports

Odds are that this will not be a World Series championship year for the Yankees. Nevertheless, in the crazy World of Sports, anything can happen.  When you have a roster of young, talented…and hungry…players, who knows?  How can you tell the young Baby Bombers that they can only be so good?  I guess that’s why we play the games instead of simply handing the World Series championship to the Boston Red Sox or Chicago Cubs and calling it a year.

When I was growing up, the Des Moines (Iowa) Register had a Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist named Frank Miller.  Miller was the Register’s editorial cartoonist until his death in 1983.  While I enjoyed Miller’s satire on political views, his cartoons taught me something that I’ve never forgotten.  Miller, a Yankees fan, would always reference that a World Series was not an official World Series if it didn’t have the Yankees in it.  He may have been jesting but I certainly understood what he meant.  

Credit:  Frank Miller, The Des Moines Register

Until the 1980’s, the Yankees won a championship in every decade since the 1920’s.  They might have even won in 1981 when they won the first two games of the Series at home against the Los Angeles Dodgers but it was not meant to be (provoking the infamous apology to the fans by George Steinbrenner).  Since that time, the 80’s remain the only blemish in the past nine decades.  The Yankees still have a few years to cash in this decade.  While this may not be the year, the team should continue to get better and stronger with each year for the foreseeable future.  An "official" World Series might be very close.

There really is no reason that the Yankees cannot outperform expectations.  They are only limited by talent and ability, qualities that are strongly inherent within the Baby Bombers to go with their amazing heart.   There’s no doubt this will be a fun season.  Go ahead and try to tell them that they’ll just be an average club.  I think they can prove you wrong.

Credit:  Rich Schultz, Getty Images

At this point, I really like Jordan Montgomery’s chances of nailing the last spot in the rotation.  Even if he doesn’t make it and starts the year at AAA, there’s no doubt he’ll be one of the first phone calls when the Yankees need rotation help.  Montgomery faces the same challenge as shortstop Tyler Wade, neither man is currently on the 40-man roster so the roster crunch could work against them.  The Yankees would most likely need to create some room through a potential trade (Rob Refsnyder and a pitcher?).  Even if the Yankees are able to open two spots, I think if Montgomery heads north with the big league club, the odds are better that a second spot would go to someone like Pete Kozma who is expendable once Didi Gregorius returns.  

Manager Joe Girardi’s head must be spinning with all of the strategic moves he has to contemplate with his final roster decisions.  Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as just picking the 25 best guys on the field.  

Reading some opposing newspapers, I’ve already seen the Yankees new first baseman referred to as Greg Byrd.  C’mon, I am not immune to spelling errors but seriously, how hard is “Bird” to type?  I guess that’s okay.  Underestimate him and see what he does against you.

In the latest Grapefruit League action, the Yankees (21-7-1) were victorious again with yet another come-from-behind win over the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-5.   Adam Warren put the Yankees in an early hole by allowing four runs in 3 1/3 innings, but the bullpen kept the game close while the Yankees chipped away at the Jays’ lead, taking the game with two runs in the bottom of the 9th.  You know that things are going well when the game-winning hit is delivered by an all-glove, no-bat hitter like Pete Kozma and the win goes to a reliever named Matt Marsh (who?).  

Have a great Sunday!

Seriously, this is not 2009…

Credit:  William Perlman, The Star Ledger

I have to admit that I was not expecting CC Sabathia to be named the #2 starter in the rotation.  Last year, he was fighting Ivan Nova for the fifth spot, and this year he leap-frogs Michael Pineda?  He went 9-12 last year, with a 3.91 ERA in 30 starts.  Better than what we expected but certainly not front-of-the-line stats.  At this point in the former ace’s career, I just hope that we get 5 solid innings with the game still within reach at the time of the hand-off to the pen…and a few Hail Mary’s for that knee.  I get Joe Girardi’s logic.  It’s better to give the first series opponent, the Tampa Bay Rays, different looks with the ‘righty-lefty-righty’ strategy.  Still, I am not sure that I would have placed CC ahead of Pineda.  In the grand scheme of things, I know it doesn’t really matter and Girardi is already on record saying that he’ll skip the #5 spot early in the season due to the number of days off during the month so the top four will get their turns.  

My prime objective:  I want Michael Pineda motivated.  If this is something that helps spur him to his potential, so be it.  I still believe the success of the season depends upon Pineda.  If he is able to produce a career year, this should be a solid season for the Yankees.  Maybe not a World Series championship year, but they won’t be anybody’s pushover.  

I am not sure what to think about Luis Severino.  He always looks incredible in relief but continues to struggle when starting.  He finished off yesterday’s game with three scoreless innings in relief, with five strikeouts.  More about the game later, but he is an enigma.  I’ve heard people say that his only potential is in the bullpen with limited turns through an opposing batting order but I guess the optimist in me keeps hoping that he’ll put it together for a solid run in the rotation.  I want him to succeed and I hope that he delivers in 2017.

So, let’s say that Severino takes the #4 as originally expected.  I think I may be re-thinking the #5 spot.  Bryan Mitchell has been my favorite all spring but I am starting to climb aboard the Jordan Montgomery train.  I love the guy’s size and his no-fear approach for throwing inside.  As Daniel Burch has painstakingly detailed, Montgomery has proven himself in AA and AAA.  I’m in.  I am on Team Montgomery.  Let’s give him the ball.  Mitchell, go to the pen!

Training camp is getting smaller.  More players were re-directed to minor league camp for re-assignment.  RHP Luis Cessa is out of the competition for the #5 spot with his departure.  Others crossing the street are OF Clint Frazier, OF Dustin Fowler, OF Billy McKinney, 1B Ji-Man Choi and LHP Jason Gurka.  If he shows maturity  this season, I think Frazier will be a finalist for an Opening Day roster spot this time next year (sooner if Brett Gardner departs).  I’d love for Dustin Fowler to find a way, but the $89 million man is blocking his way in center.  

The Yankees received the first of their Rule 5 losses back, but unfortunately, it wasn’t one of the guys I am hoping for.  The Arizona Diamondbacks returned right-hander Tyler Jones.  At 27, Jones can’t rate as much of a prospect but he did put up solid numbers in the minors last year.  Jones pitched 8 games for the D-Backs this spring for 6 2/3 innings.  He failed a couple of save opportunities, and finished with a 4.05 ERA.  To his credit, he did strike out 8 batters.  It’s possible that we may see Jones in the Bronx for short stints via the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre shuttle this year.  Meanwhile, I continue waiting to see if Luis Torrens (San Diego) and/or Tyler Webb (Pittsburgh) will be returned.  Although I’d like to see both players back, it is very possible that one or both will be lost if they make Opening Day rosters (of course they do have to stick all season at the major league level or must be offered back to the Yankees).  

In yesterday’s Grapefruit League action, the Yankees won again.  They scored an improbable come-from-behind victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-2, with names you definitely will not be hearing in the Bronx this year.  Trey Amburgey delivered the game-winning RBI with a single in the bottom of the 9th, scoring Wilkin Castillo.    Sabathia started the game and went 5 1/3 innings.  He allowed 9 hits but only gave up 2 runs as he worked out of trouble a few times.  Severino finished off the game with his masterful final three innings of no-hit ball to pick up the win.  Dellin Betances made his first appearance since the WBC for two outs in relief of Sabathia.  Aaron Judge’s arm also showed why he should be the team’s starting right fielder.       

The Yankees are now 20-7-1 as we begin the final curve before the home stretch to Opening Day.  Next week should be very interesting as the Yankees begin the final cuts in the march to 25.     

Have a great Saturday!

This Day in New York Yankees History 3/25: Enter Pat Malone

On this day in 1935 the Chicago Cubs sold Pat Malone to the New York Yankees. The right hander will go 12-4 in 1936 for New York but will only post a 19-13 record in his three years in the Bronx.

No Seriously, Acquire James Paxton Please

Here’s a quick hit to end your Friday and kick off your weekend and it’s something that I have said on the blog here more than once already this offseason. The New York Yankees need to find a way to pry away left-handed starting pitcher James Paxton and they need to find a way to do it sooner rather than later because I truly think he is in line not only for a strong bounce-back type season but he may be in line for a season that could turn his career around for the foreseeable future as well. Don’t worry all, I’ll explain.

Why would the Yankees want Paxton? In parts of four Major League seasons the southpaw has lacked consistency on a team starved for starting pitching and every one of those seasons he has spent time in Triple-A Tacoma. His control was average at best and his velocity, low 90’s, did him no favors in hiding the fact that he simply struggled at the Major League level despite the hype of being a top prospect along with former teammate Taijuan Walker. These and many other reasons are exactly why the Yankees would want to acquire Paxton now and not later, buy low and sell high.

Paxton began the 2016 season down in the minor leagues where he worked with pitching coach Lance Painter who tweaked his delivery with astounding results. While Paxton did not suddenly dominating MLB hitters right away he did finish the 2016 season at the MLB level with an impressive 3.79 ERA and 2.80 FIP. The 2.80 FIP would have been the best in the American League had he had enough innings to qualify for the award besting Corey Kluber’s 3.26 FIP in 2016. That’s encouraging and shows a bit of bad luck in the overall stat line. What is not unlucky by any stretch of the imagination is his sudden increase in velocity due to the delivery change as Paxton finished last season with a 96.7 MPH average fastball which would have made him the third hardest thrower in the majors trailing just Noah Syndergaard and Nathan Eovaldi.

You have to remember the Yankees, at least for this season, are looking for a pitcher to pitch at the back end of their starting rotation and Paxton would easily fill that need for New York. If he can pitch like he has this spring though, thus far he has 11 L’s in nine spring innings with a 0.89 WHIP, with that 97 MPH fastball the Yankees may have the best #3 or #4 starter in all of Major League Baseball… and all for a low risk and high reward type trade. Get it done Cashman and get it done now before the Mariners realize what they have in him. 

So it Seems the World Finally Caught Up on Jordan Montgomery

Two “so it seems” in one day. How did you all get so damn lucky? But seriously, something this awesome and potentially big is exciting and deserving of such an honor in my very bias, yet oh so humble, opinion because it seems like the rest of the world and especially the Yankees blogosphere is finally catching up to the idea of loving them some Jordan Montgomery. Montgomery was thought to be a long shot in the Yankees starting rotation battle this spring but as we stand here less than two weeks away from Opening Day the lefty is still in Yankees camp and still working on securing that 5^th spot. Montgomery has impressed the Yankees this spring and now that he’s popular to write about he is impressing a lot of sports writers as well, just don’t tell that one guy from that one publication that I’ve been writing about Montgomery for a while now or he will find another way to block me on another format for having “his” idea first.

Montgomery has some stiff competition for the Yankees starting rotation battle this spring including right-handers Luis Severino, Bryan Mitchell, Chad Green, Luis Cessa and Adam Warren but none of them have stood out in camp this spring leaving Girardi to add the lefty Montgomery into the mix. Montgomery hasn’t merely been added into the mix because of the struggles of the others though, Montgomery has pitched his way onto the Yankees radar this spring and has pitched well enough to where he cannot be ignored any longer. Montgomery has only pitched in relief this spring but the highlight of his Grapefruit League schedule was when he threw four perfect innings against the Detroit Tigers to finish the Yankees spring combined no-hitter. That opened some eyes apparently.

Montgomery had a strong 2016 campaign as well posting a 14-5 record with a 2.13 ERA in 25 starts between Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton. While that stat line is impressive on its own when you look at his Triple-A stats, 5-1 record with a 0.97 ERA albeit in just six starts, you can see that Montgomery has little-to-nothing to prove in the minor leagues at this point in his development.

Will that lack of need for development lead him to the Yankees bullpen on Opening Day, remember the Yankees will only need four starters for the first two weeks or so of the season due to all the off days, and eventually into the Yankees starting rotation in mid-April? Will Montgomery be the Yankees fourth starter while the uber-talented Luis Severino heads into the bullpen? Or will Montgomery start the season down in Triple-A polishing up his skills? Your guess is as good as mine at this point but at the very least Montgomery is opening eyes everywhere now and that’d due to an immense amount of talent and hard work and that alone makes me happy and proud. Congrats to him no matter where he ends up on April 2^nd.